A Swollen Red Sun by Matthew McBride
My rating: 4/5 cats
missouri. meth. trailers. police. cat piss. convicts. $52,000. shotguns. meth. rednecks. armed robbery. horsemeat. dogs. kidnapping. trucks. shed. marijuana. violence. chains. meth. family. pigs. cracker barrel. knives. incest. tweakers. slaughter. alcohol. motel. noir. domestic violence. meth. rifles. anhydrous ammonia. suicide. trucks. taxidermy. hammer. duffel bag. goats. murder. murder. murder. (meth). skoal. tractor. beer. rooster. jail. accidents. consequences. nostalgia. rape. ax. adultery.
and there’s your vocabulary list for this book. it’s pretty textbook grit lit, which is not to suggest that it’s derivative or anything, but i just mean – you know what you are getting into reading this. there will be many many deaths and many meths.
and those deaths will be gruesome:
The blast had removed his face and tore his head in half. There was nothing left but red bones and teeth and skin that looked like pizza once you scraped the meat off.
and men who are the manliest kind of men:
Olen liked Tom Cuddy. They went back to the days of the old one-room schoolhouse in Mount Sterling. Tom had lost his wife to cancer, too, in the summer, so Olen knew they would have much to talk about. He looked forward to their conversation. Tom could probably use a good handshake.
and – sorry, kids – the deaths of an alarming number of dogs
Ahead were three dogs in a tug-of-war with a string of the dead dog’s innards.
so it’s rough shit for sure, but it’s also a fantastic crime novel with excellent descriptions that will usually make you want to throw up a little, memorable characters, and a tight little plot that comes together slowly and spectacularly and ends with an unexpected giggle. but before that giggle – don’t get too attached, friends. this here is game of thrones – backwoods style.
